I’m just really happy to be on the receiving end of having (Schatz) behind me instead of me being behind the (Schatz),” said Stewart in victory lane. “It’s just been that way all year. Any time (Schatz) lines up next to you, you have to be on your game.”
“Stewart felt the night was not off to a great start when his team drew the 75th number for qualifications, but the new World of Outlaws qualifying format helps alleviate some of the issues with drawing that high of a number.”
“We were cussing Heath for drawing it, said Stewart. “With the split field for qualifying it takes those numbers out a little bit I was just glad Mother Nature stayed away so we could race. It’s great to win the Knight Before the Kings Royal in front of all these great fans. It’s just a testament to all of the great people that follow the sport. Scotty, Heath, and Andrew did a great job and gave me a great car. The cautions fell at the right time. Obviously when the 15 lines up beside you, you need to know where to go, and my car was really good. Hopefully this is a good omen for tomorrow.”
After a red flag on the initial start for a flip by Sheldon Haudenschild Stewart took the lead from Sammy Swindell at the start. By the fifth lap Stewart was in slower traffic and got hung up with a lapped car, allowing Swindell to close in. Just as Swindell went to the top side to challenge Stewart was able to clear traffic and open up his lead. Tim Shaffer then brought out the caution flag after shredding a left rear tire. Shaffer’s team was able to get him back out for the restart.
Stewart used the low side during the double file restart to maintain the lead while Daryn Pittman slid into second with Schatz running all four wheels over the deep cushion through turns one and two to rocket into fourth off turn two. Swindell then moved around Pittman for second into turn one. Pittman then found himself racing with Schatz for third. Schatz dove under Pittman in turn one on lap 12, but Pittman held onto the position.
As Stewart encountered slower traffic again Swindell closed while Schatz finally moved past Pittman for the third spot. Schatz ran down Swindell for the runner up spot, taking the position on lap 18. One lap later the caution flag appeared for Logan Schuchart slowing down the backstretch.
With six laps to go this setup the final double file restart of the feature with Stewart and Schatz. Stewart went to the bottom for the restart while Schatz once again drove all four wheels over the cushion trying to duplicate the previous restart. This time though it backfired and Pittman quickly pressured Schatz for the second spot. Schatz held off Pittman and started to pressure Stewart for the lead with four laps to go. Stewart was up for the challenge though holding off Schatz for the victory. Joey Saldana and Pittman swapped the third spot back and forth with Pittman reclaiming the spot at the finish over Saldana. Swindell rounded out the top five.
Jacob Allen and Saldana were the fastest qualifiers in the two sessions with Saldana being the fastest overall with a lap of 13. 041 seconds. Steve Kinser, Ryan Smith, Jamie Veal, Kerry Madsen, Pittman, and Schatz won heat race events. Stewart won the Dash. James McFadden won the C-Main while Bryan CLauson recovered from flipping after blowing a left rear tire while leading his heat race to win one of the two B-Mains. Saldana won the other B-Main event.
World of Outlaws
Knight Before the Kings Royal
Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
Friday July 17, 2015
Qualifications Flight 1:
1. 1A – Jacob Allen, 13.104
2. 19M – Brent Marks, 13.216
3. 45 – Tim Shaffer, 13.221
4. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 13.223
5. 17W – Bryan Clauson, 13.263
6. 40 – Caleb Helms, 13.294
7. 11 – Steve Kinser, 13.331
8. 94 – Ryan Smith, 13.341
9. 35AU – Jamie Veal, 13.356
10. 49 – Brad Sweet, 13.400
11. 67 – Christopher Bell, 13.407
12. 41 – Jason Johnson, 13.409
13. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.430
14. 26 – Tayler Malsam, 13.440
15. 19 – Paige Polyak, 13.456
16. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 13.479
17. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 13.492
18. 70 – Derek Hagar, 13.506
19. Q83 – David Murcott, 13.613
20. 60 – Kory Crabtree, 13.677
21. 16 – Stuart Brubaker, 13.782
22. 27 – Beau Stewart, 13.787
23. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 13.980
24. 35 – Wes McGlumphy, 14.091
25. 38 – Jared Horstman, 14.258
26. 89 – Cody Darrah, NT
Qualifications Flight 2:
1. 71M – Joey Saldana, 13.041
2. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 13.093
3. 2 – Shane Stewart, 13.095
4. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 13.102
5. 1B – Dale Blaney, 13.102
6. 51 – Paul McMahan, 13.118
7. 59 – Danny Holtgraver, 13.148
8. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 13.154
9. 15 – Donny Schatz, 13.187
10. 7S – Jason Sides, 13.223
11. W20 – Greg Wilson, 13.224
12. 7H – JoJo Helberg, 13.225
13. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 13.308
14. 5T – Travis Philo, 13.320
15. 49X – Cole Duncan, 13.339
16. 7 – David Gravel, 13.370
17. 57X – Andrew Palker, 13.401
18. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 13.497
19. 21 – D.J. Foos, 13.514
20. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 13.539
21. 13 – Kevin Swindell, 13.553
22. 45L – Brian Lay, 13.578
23. 33M – Caleb Griffith, 13.604
24. 16X – Ryan Ruhl, 13.611
25. 3G – James McFadden, 13.727
26. 91 – Cale Thomas, 13.730
27. 96AU – Bruce White, 14.456
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 11 – Steve Kinser, 2. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 3. 49 – Brad Sweet, 4. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 5. 1A – Jacob Allen, 6. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 7. Q83 – David Murcott, 8. 27 – Beau Stewart, 9. 38 – Jared Horstman. (Top 3 finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 94 – Ryan Smith, 2. 67 – Christopher Bell, 3. 19M – Brent Marks, 4.1 ST – Gary Taylor. 5. Tayler Malsam, 6. 89 – Cody Darrah. 7. 17 – Bryan Clauson, 8. 60 – Kory Crabtree. DNS: 1S – Logan Schuchart (Top 3 finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 35AU – Jamie Veal, 2. 45 – Tim Shaffer, 3. 41 – Jason Johnson, 4. 40 – Caleb Helms, 5. 19 – Paige Polyak, 6. 70 – Derek Hagar, 7. 16 – Stuart Brubaker, 8. 35 – Wes McClumphy (Top 3 finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 2. 59 – Danny Holtgraver, 3. 7S – Jason Sides, 4. 71M – Joey Saldana, 5. 7 – David Gravel, 6. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 7. 3G – James McFadden, 8. 21 – D.J. Foos, 9. 45 – Brian Lay. (Top 3 finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (8 Laps): 1. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 2. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 3. 1B – Dale Blaney, 4. 5T – Travis Philo, 5. W20 – Greg Wilson, 6. 33M – Caleb Griffith, 7. 57X – Andrew Palker, 8. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 9. 91 – Cale Thomas. (Top 3 finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #6 (8 Laps): 1. 15 – Donny Schatz, 2. 51 – Paul McMahan, 3. 2 – Shane Stewart, 4. 49 – Cole Duncan, 5. 13 – Kevin Swindell, 6. 7 – JoJo Helberg, 7. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 8. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 9. 96AU – Bruce White.
C-Main (10 Laps): 1. 3G – James McFadden, 2. 33M – Claeb Griffith, 3. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 4. 17 – Jared Horstman, 5. 89 – Cody Darrah, 6. 96AU – Bruce White. DNS: 91 – Cale Thomas, 35 – Wes McGlumphy. (First two finishers transferred to the two B-Mains)
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 2 – Shane Stewart, 2. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 3. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 4. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 5. 15 – Donny Schatz, 6. 19M – Brent Marks, 7. 11 – Steve Kinser, 8. 94 – Ryan .Smith, 9. 36 – Jamie Veal. DNS: 45 – Tim Shaffer. (Finish determined the first 10 starting positions for the A-Main)
B-Main #1 (12 Laps): 1. 17W – Bryan Clauson, 2. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 3. 1A – Jacob Allen, 4. 70 – Derek Hagar, 5. 1 ST – Gary Taylor, 6. 40 – Caleb Helms, 7. Q83 – David Murcott, 8. 26 – Tayler Malsam, 9. 27 – Beau Stewart, 10. 19 – Paige Polyak, 11. 16 – Stuart Brubaker, 12. 3G – James McFadden, 13. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 14. 60 – Kory Crabtree. (Top 3 finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main #2 (12 Laps): 1. 71M – Joey Saldana, 2. W20 – Greg Wilson, 3. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 4. 49X – Cole Duncan, 5. 7H – JoJo Helberg, 6. 13 – Kevin Swindell, 7. 7 – David Gravel, 8. 22H – Randy Hannagan, 9. 33M – Caleb Griffith, 10. 5T – Travis Philo. 11. – Kraig Kinser, 12. 45 – Brian Lay, 15. 57X – Andrew Palker. DNS: 21 – D.J. Foos. (Top 3 finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 2 – Shane Stewart, 2. 15 – Shane Stewart, 3. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 4. 71M – Joey Saldana, 5. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 6. 49 – Brad Sweet, 7. 51 – Paul McMahan, 8. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 9. 7S – Jason Sides, 10. 19M – Brent Marks, 11. 35AU – Jamie Veal, 12. 67 – Christopher Bell, 13. 11 – Steve Kinser, 14. 17W – Bryan Clauson, 15. 41 – Jason Johnson, 16. 59 – Danny Holtgraver, 17. 94 – Ryan Smith, 18. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 19. 7 – David Gravel, 20. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 21. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 22. 1B – Dale Blaney, 23. 45 – Tim Shaffer, 24. 1A – Jacob Allen, 25. W20 – Greg Wilson, 26. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild.